[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /viewtopic.php on line 988: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'Europe/Moscow' for 'MSD/4.0/DST' instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /viewtopic.php on line 988: getdate(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'Europe/Moscow' for 'MSD/4.0/DST' insteadSolaraGuy.com • View topic - Tire/NTB Gripe

so, right now i'm in the market for some new tires, and on television i see a commercial for National Tire and Battery, talking about a buy 1 get 1 free on select lines of tires.

being that i have a flat tire + 3 almost bald ones, i checked out their website to see what the promotion was all about, and which tires were eligible.

so i find out that the brands of tires eligible are Yokohama, Sumitomo, Cooper, and Falken

at this point i'm like "ok, this looks good so far, let's check the individual pricing on the tires"

i end up seeing the sumitomo HTR Z3 tires for $163.77 a piece....i do the math in my head, and figure it to come out to around $327+tax if it's a true buy1get1 free setup (actually, the website promo says it's buy 2 get 2 free, but it's the same to me, since i need 4 either way)

now to the part where i start griping.

first, this promotion they're offering is only between 7am and 9am, today (friday), saturday and sunday (26th and 27th)......but hey, if it's REALLY that good of a deal, i can handle the early saturday....the savings go down after 9am, and you can buy 3 and get 1 tire 10% off (HAHAHAHA)

so i decide to call the shop and check to make sure they have all the tires in stock.

when i talked to the guy (who seemed nice, at least they get a +1 for customer service), i just wanted to know if they had them in stock, but he went ahead and volunteered to write up an estimate for me.

so, as we go through this estimate process, he informs me that the promo is only available for those people who have the tires installed and aligned there (pretty standard part of a package, i'd imagine), but i would also have to buy the premium road warranty package along with it.

also, he let me know that they only had 2 of the particular tire i was looking at in stock, but they could get the other two, if i left my car, or if i put a deposit down before bringing in my car...

so i'm thinking, "even if it's another hundred or hundred-fifty for the unsolicited extras, i'm still coming out ahead on quality tires".....well, then the other shoe drops, and i get the out-the-door price:
$632.xx

mind you, the guy confirmed that they were only $164 per tire when i was talking to him....which means that the unsolicited extras cost a whopping $305 dollars.....which is almost two more tires (i'd rather get two more tires than a 12k mile tire warranty).

i laughed out loud at the price....apologized for the outburst....questioned if people actually buy them/think it's a good deal...then said goodbye.

moral of the story: if it sounds too good to be true....then don't be afraid to laugh when you confirm that the deal is bunk.

$164 x 4 = $656, full price for four tires, no extras, no package deal (before tax)
$656 - $632(before tax) = $24 savings (plus a tire warranty deal, which the website suggests comes free with tires anyway)
the only noticeable difference is that the standard ride guarantee is 30 days, and the premium package does it for 12k miles/1 year (whichever comes first).

to me, it is not worth waking up at 7am, to save 6 dollars on a tire (24 dollars for four), that i could probably get much cheaper from an independent tire shop (boo corporations!).

and i have only had one instance IN MY LIFE (1 out of over 15 tires) where i completely and irreparably destroy a tire (without getting at least 10k miles out of it first).

and this is why i have still never bought a set of tires from NTB or Discount Tire (heck, i bet Sam's Club has sets of tires priced more reasonably than them!)

although, i will admit to previously buying a single Discount tire to replace a blown tire (the 1 out of 15 i talked about above), which happened within the first 2000 miles of getting them on the car (such a waste of good rubber....FU potholes in the rain)...and that was only because it was a single tire, and because Discount is physically the closest tire shop from my house.